Zucchini Vegetable Stew (Slow Cooker)

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   How do you make zucchini vegetable stew in a slow cooker? Gather all your ingredients. You can use vegetables either fresh from the garden or frozen. If your zucchini is mature, peel it and scoop out the seeds. Choose large, meaty tomatoes.

2. Step 2:

   

   Peel the onion, garlic, and carrot. Halve the bell peppers and remove the seeds and cores. Using peppers of different colors makes the finished stew especially bright and appetizing. Rinse all the vegetables and pat them dry.

3. Step 3:

   

   Slice the onion into thin half-moons or quarter-moons. Cut the peppers into strips. Grate the carrot on the coarse side of a box grater or a julienne slicer, or cut it by hand into thin sticks.

4. Step 4:

   

   Pour a little vegetable or olive oil into the slow cooker insert. Add the onion, peppers, and carrot. Set it to the Sauté (fry) setting and start cooking the vegetables.

5. Step 5:

   

   Sauté, stirring, for about 10 minutes.

6. Step 6:

   

   Cut the tomatoes into small cubes or wedges. Peel them first if you like (I usually don't). Cut the zucchini into small pieces.

7. Step 7:

   

   Add the tomatoes and zucchini to the slow cooker insert.

8. Step 8:

   

   Stir everything together and season with salt to taste. Now add your favorite dried spices — I used a mix of ground peppers, paprika, and dried basil. Stir again.

9. Step 9:

   

   Cover the slow cooker, set it to the Stew (braise) setting, and leave it until done. Cook times vary by model — mine defaulted to one hour, but the vegetables were ready in 30 minutes, so check on them from time to time. Near the end, stir in the finely chopped garlic and let the stew rest for about 5–10 minutes.

10. Step 10:

    

    Sprinkle the finished stew with ground black pepper and fresh herbs. Serve!